The Devil Went Down To Georgia
by Epic Uke
Summary: The Infection hits Savannah and the remaining survivors do whatever they can to survive. Nick x Ellis
1. Chapter 1

Zombies are such... terrible things. But, they weren't really zombies persay, they were the outcome of the epidemic, The Green Flu. It didn't infect everyone though, there were survivors, but it rapidly spread from Pennslyvania where it began, all the way down to Savannah, Georgia. The night prior of the flu, a young mechanic hadn't a fear in the world, living his live happily. He had friends, a stable job, a mother who loved him and a never receding optimism for life. Ellis had curly brown hair under his blue and white tow truck cap he always wore, bright blue eyes that always shimmered with excitement and had a muscular frame with a tan.

He was finishing up in the auto-shop he and his friends started in highschool by slamming down the hood of a truck, wiping his hands on the legs of his mechanic overalls he wore. Readjusting his hat, he whistled in appreciation at his handiwork, then headed to the door. "Y'all, I'm done for t'night." he called out, his southern accent heavy. He strode over to his friends, Keith and Dave.

"Be careful, will ya?" the rusty haired man said, sipping at a beer. "Shit's been goin' on with that nasty flu 'n all, El." Keith said, picking absentmindedly at a spot on his pants. Ellis frowned and shook his head.

"El, promise us." his other friend, Dave, spoke up this time.

"Yeah, a'right, I'll be careful." Ellis rolled his eyes.

"I heard it's spread all the way down here now! There's been a few cases already!" Keith explained, moving his hands around. Ellis' frown only grew and he shrugged a little bit.

"Can't be all that bad, Keith," the contagious grin was back. "Really, man. I mean, shit, if it was so terrible, wouldn't the government be here 'n all?" With that, he stood up, bid them farewell again and left.

Ellis was grateful the moon was bright and lighting up his way in the wooded area he always took from his house to the shop. It was the quickest way and it was a clear path. He replayed Keith's words in his head, about how the infection has already made it's way down here in a matter of weeks. _There's a few cases already! _Keith had said. When he was hearing it, a swell of fear bubbled in his stomach, but Ellis quickly just blew it away with his positive comment. When he got to the clearing of trees that lead to his home, the mechanic blinked at the men in yellow hazmat suits were walking around, examining the small lake by his house.

"What's all the commotion?" the southerner asked the nearest man.

"A case of the Green Flu has spread to this area and we're testing the water." the man said, glancing at the house. Ellis looked to where he was looking and squinted a little bit.

"Aw, hell! That's Keith's house!" he gasped. "Is... is anyone hurt or y'know.. sick?" Ellis asked, mouth hanging open slightly.

"An elder man and a woman." the CEDA member told him. Of course, that must be Keith's step-father and his sister, right? "The woman was found in a house about four houses down." Or not. Four houses down was...

His house.

Ellis' eyes widened and covers his mouth, trying to swallow down the lump that was forming in his throat. How could his ma be infected with this? She was most certainly dead by now and that just send a numb feeling course through his body. He felt tears prickling up in the corners of his eyes, his lower lip trembling. "If you lived in any of the houses, I'm going to ask you to come with us. Do you have any names or numbers of other people on this block?" the CEDA worker asked. Ellis just nodded slowly and bit his lower lip. The worker lead Ellis to a truck, Keith's younger sister and a few more of his neighbors were already on board.

The little girl scooted her way towards Ellis, hugging him tightly, tears already streaming down her face. "E-El!" she sobbed, unable to control it any longer. "W-where's.. where's Keith?" she asked, whimpering.

"K-Keith's at the shop, Elise," he said, wrapping his arms around her, trying to calm her down. "So is Dave! They're both safe..." he said lowly. Elise continued to cry into the twenty-three year old's yellow Bull Shifters t-shirt, hugging onto him for dear life. He glanced at one of the neighbors, a younger man, about his age. "Where's this truck goin'?" the brunette asked.

"It's goin' to the Savannah Hotel," the man around Ellis' age said. "You know, the one in town." Ellis just nodded and went back to comforting the small, rust haired girl again. "Uh, does anyone have a phone or somethin' I can call her brother with?" he asked and glanced around, a pretty girl handing Ellis the phone. He sighed, dialing the auto shop's number quickly.

"Hello?" it was Keith.

"Dammit, Keith, get out of the shop, take Dave 'n meet me at the Hotel in town, okay?" Ellis sounded paniced. On the other end, Keith frowned, blinking at the phone.

"What's up, Ellis?" the older of the two asked, worried slightly that his best friend sounded so scared.

"I'll tell you later, just..." he trailed off and glanced down at the floor. "Just get there now, okay?" he hung up. Keith frowned and then glanced at Dave, telling him what happened a few seconds ago and then, loaded up his truck and headed towards the hotel.

After the CEDA workers piled in the other neighbors down the way, the truck started with a rumbling sound. Ellis swallowed the lump in his throat, then glanced out the back, clenching his jaw as he stroked Elise's hair gently, his hand twitching each time. Elise had fallen quiet at the reassurance that her older brother was okay, peering around at everybody. Halfway there, the girl who had given Ellis the phone gripped at her head, making a soft groaning noise. She coughed and leaned forward, vomiting on the floor in front of her.

"Ah! Are you okay?" the same man that was Ellis' age asked, looking concerned at her. She didn't answer, but continued to moan and cough. The mechanics' attention was on the woman, then he glanced at the back, tensing, his heart starting to pound. Before he knew it, the blonde girl was at the man's throat, biting it and getting herself drenched in his blood as he screamed. At that precise moment, everyone in the car started to hustle around, trying to escape this new threat. Ellis felt himself be shoved and smacked, his head hitting the back of the truck. The new infected girl had snatched another person, the man next to Ellis and began to gnaw and claw at him. The mechanic had jumped up and grabbed Elise's hand, hurrying out the door with her, dragging the small girl by her arm. She let out a cry and the brunette was thrown from the truck's exit by the slamming of breaks. "What's going on in there?" a CEDA worker yelled, holding a gun and opening the door, his eyes widen behind the protective mask he wore at the blood staining the floor and walls and the she-zombie currently eating her share of survivors. She then eyed the CEDA worker, springing at him from the open truck, biting at his arm through the suit.

Ellis took the moment to run out with Elise, holding her close, he squated, waiting for her to jump on his back before watching the blonde woman go down and the CEDA worker clutching at his arm. The mechanic dashed through the night towards the large sign that said 'Savannah Hotel', praying to God that the other two had made it safely.

Once he was there, Ellis was in exhausted, leaning over, the small girl still holding on with her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. He saw more CEDA workers, pointing out different areas were evac stations were. He saw three long lines of people and stared as helicopters departed and came back in. The next task, was to find Keith and Dave. He began searching through the lines, yelling out for them, looking everywhere. The tan boy failed to notice he was getting closer towards a white back. He crashed into the man, yelping as he fell forward, then was shoved backwards. "Watch where you're going, assclown!" the annoyed man yelled.

"W-well sorry, man!" Ellis apologized, backing away, continuing his search for Keith and Dave. Eventually, he found the two, towards the end of a far line. "Keith! Dave!" he yelled, rushing over and hugging them both, followed by an estatic Elise hugging her older brother tightly.

"Keith!" she began to sob, shaking her head back and forth. Keith had the little girl in his arms and tried to shush her up, kissing her forehead. "Hey, hey, kid, I'm here, calm down..." he whispered. After about thirty minutes, she quieted down and they were a few people away from getting onto the helicopter. "El... We gotta get outta here, as soon as possible..." he said.

Ellis shook his head in agreement. "No, Keith... Take Dave 'n your sister out of here and get to safety." He glanced up as the two in front of them loaded on, Keith standing in front of him.

"We have room for three more!" the man called from the helicopter. Keith hesitated and opened his mouth, but was quieted before Ellis placed a finger on his lips, shaking his head.

"Go, Keith," Ellis glanced at Dave, who had Elise and was already on the helicopter. "I rather see you guys all safe. I'd catch up with ya anyway." he smiled and removed his finger, but gasped when the older man yanked him into a tight hug.

"I swear to God, you better come back." Keith growled into his ear, biting it hard, earning a yelp. He chuckled inwardly, watching the brunette with his own, peircing blue eyes.

"I-I will, okay?" he flushed dark red, swallowing heavily as he watched Keith get on the helicopter, leaving him there on the rooftop of the Hotel. Ellis sighed, turning around to head downstairs to get a room.

"Kid, there'll be another one at Liberty Mall, tomorrow morning."

"Thank you..." Ellis sighed, staring down, starting to walk down the steps. Inside, Ellis stood at the desk, waiting to get his room key. Amongst the people, about thirty or so, he noticed the white suited man he met earlier. He saw the man's features now, how older he looked, yet he was still very attractive. The hick saw the stubble on his lower jaw and licked his lips to wet them. Once he got his room key, he strode closer to eye the man again, passing him as he went towards the stairs.

The white coated man watched as Ellis walked by, smirking to himself. Maybe, he'd find out the kid's room number and get a one night stand before this infection took out all of Savannah. Nick chuckled to himself and followed after the younger mechanic, eyeing his own room key. He had no idea that the brunette in front of him would be tagging up with him very soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Ellis found it difficult to fall asleep on the hotel bed that night. His mind was swimming with all the events today, how he had been enjoying his day at the shop with Keith and Dave to come home, hearing how his mother was dead and experiencing a real life zombie kill someone. Usually, he had Keith over or he could easily call the rusty haired man up and tell him about his problems. He didn't have Keith with him right now and he was positive he couldn't call him up. He just had to keep being the optimistic young man that he was and survive the best he could. Besides, tomorrow would be coming very soon, less then seven hours until 9 A.M.. It was late and his eyes ached to be rested, but as he laid there in the darkness, he let out a soft cry. He cried for about an hour before slowly drifting off into the sleep he thought would never come.

Ellis awoke to the smell of smoke, his eyes opening as he jolted up, looking around. He moved to the door, swallowing nervously as he opened up, seeing the halls deserted, a few smears of blood against the walls and what looked like green vomit was in a jar on a near by table. He flinched and picked it up, swallowing. He jumped when he heard the sound of a high pitched giggle, drawing the pistol from his belt loop, checking it for bullets, which of course, was full. He frowned when he saw the short creature, it's spine protruding out the most. The Jockey just giggled at him, rushing at him and jumping onto his face.

"AAAHH!" Ellis screamed, being lead around like a chicken without a head as the Jockey rode him around, clawing at his face. "GET HIM OFF ME!" the desprate cries of help seemed to be useless. Inside his room, down the hall, Nick turned to the door, hearing yells of distress. He frowned, buttoning up his blue shirt before tucking it into his pants before grabbing a blunt object and heading out. He saw the pair turn a corner before he headed out, running after the brunette and the little Jockey. He managed to grab the Jockey and yank him off the mechanic before smashing the fire extinguisher down on it's spine, a loud crack being the result.

"You okay?" Nick asked. Ellis looked up, swallowing, his forehead and cheeks were covered in multiple small scratches. He gasped and his cheeks flushed a bit. Nicholas has dark hair and the brightest green eyes he'd ever seen. His face showed that he was older and he had a small scratch on his forehead. Ellis' eyes traveled downward, staring at his toned the conman was, a small grin on his face, until he eyed the small hickey on his neck, which was apparently fresh to as far as he knew. "Kid?" the older man asked again, standing up straighter.

"U-uh, yeah! Thanks, man!" he said, nodding his head quickly.

"Let's go, now, this place is on fire." Nick snapped, leading the way towards the staircase, kicking the door down and heading down, smashing at the infected as they stood in the way of the upper floors. Ellis followed behind him, swallowing nervously as he wiped some blood out of his eyes, coughing a little bit.

"Well shit, man! This is crazy!" he stated, shooting one of them. "We need to get to the mall!"

"I hate malls..." Nick grumbled, beating his way through the group of infected, staring down the hall, dashing with the hick. Ellis shot a few more times, wiping away some more blood that dripped down his face. Soon, the two were staring out a window ledge leading past a burning room and into a safe one. The conman eyed the mechanic and smirked at him, picking up a crowbar in the room. He walked over, smashing the glass of the window and moving to step outside of it, making his way across the ledge. Ellis stared, his legs freezing up at the vision of the ground below them. All that stood between them and getting down was zombies and fire. Oh, of course, over ten floors of that.

"C'mon, overalls!" Nick called out to him, glaring. "Get a move on!" he added. Ellis was confused to who he was talking to, but understood it was him since, 1. He was wearing overalls and 2. he was the only person that he could be talking to. He swallowed a lot, hesitantly crawling out of the window and making his way over towards where Nick was. He made the huge mistake of looking over his shoulder, a terrible feeling of vertigo washing over him, making the younger man feel dizzy. His legs gave out and the next moment, he was dangling from the ledge by his fingers.

"Shit!" he yelped, arms flexing so he could stay on longer. Nick swore loudly, the sound of smashing glass was heard and he glanced down again after fending off the infected to see Ellis was no longer there, but the window below had been broken. Green eyes widened and he tensed up, rushing through the room and finding his way down another set of stairs, hearing bullets in the room Ellis must have fallen through. Nick slashed at multiple infected people, making his way to the room, stopping in the doorway.

Inside, a petite dark skinned woman and a heavy set man were tending to Ellis' face with a wet rag. The woman had her hair tied up in a pony tail, wore a pink shirt Depeche Mode logo on it and a pair of blue jeans. The man was bald and had a purple and gold FHS jersey on. He was definately the largest one, talking quietly to the scared hick. The woman stared up at Nick, looking with a relieved look. "Oh, thank God, more survivors!" she seemed relived, going over to the taller man. "Are you hurt?" she asked, examining him.

"I'm fine, sweetheart." he frowned and glared at her. She sighed, helped Ellis up and glanced at the door. "Is he your friend?" she asked Nick. The older man shrugged and headed back to the door, the other three behind him, Ellis seeming to recover nicely from his little scare. The four of them made their way through the burning building, fighting off different kinds of infected. A Hunter pounced on Coach, a Smoker strangled Ellis along with a Boomer vomiting over him, a Spitter spat on the floor around them and the amount of common infected increased with every moment, until they were in the only working elevator.

"You all got names?" Nick asked, standing in the far corner, panting softly.

"My name's Rochelle." the woman said, with a smile.

"My friend's call me Coach!" the man with the FHS shirt said.

"Ellis. My name's Ellis. Sometimes people call me El, but that kinda sounds like a girl's name, so... Just call me Ellis, unless... like, you guys can call me El..." he trailed off, staring at the floor of the elevator. "When this door opens, there's probably gonna be a welcomin' commit..." he said, dread in his voice.

"Young'un, don't you worry 'bout that, we'll make it." Coach said, winking at the youngest of their group. Ellis couldn't help but grin and nodded his head. Rochelle flinched when the elevator stopped and Nick stood forward, prying open the door with his crowbar, running out. The others followed suit, Ellis taking the bile bomb off his belt, jogging with him, shooting at the flaming infected with wide eyes. It was smokey and the room was very hot, due to the flames that were burning the lobby. All the group could do was run, cough and fight their way. Feeling like it took hours, they found themselves running to a door with a bar on it, only to be stopped by what sounded like a rumbling sound.

"What the hell is that?" Rochelle stopped, blinking, turning to look, her hoop earrings moving with her head. She backed up, pulling Ellis along. Coach frowned, his eyes widening as he darted for the safe room at what he saw. It was big, pinkish and headed straight for them. The hick began to shoot at it with his pistol, swearing when it ran out of bullets. He chucked the gun to the side.

"What the fuck is that big ass thing?" Nick yelled, looking around and backing up quickly. Ellis gasped, his hand on the jar getting tighter as he was tugged back along with Rochelle. He pushed her back, chucking with all his might the container, it shattering on the Tank's body, covering it with the green liquid. He darted off after the others, who made it into the room, gasping and shaking his head back and forth.

"Aw, shit, shit, shit, man!" he coughed, he was already wiped out from the stairs and the smell of burning flesh. He glanced over his shoulder for a moment, watching as the other infected attacked the larger one before he rushed into the safe room.

"Ellis, sweetie!" Rochelle sounded worried, rushing over to him with a first aid kit she already had, starting to take out more of the disinfectant and gauze to clean him up. He held a hand up and shook his head. "Sweetie, come on, you got burnt..." she said, softly.

"S'okie, Ro..." Ellis muttered, eyes flicking up to the small room. It was square with a table with a few guns on it and there was another table with multiple kinds of bullets, two bottles of water, four first aid kids and some sort of pills.

"Young'un, help us put stuff in front of the door!" Coach demanded and Ellis got to work, helping Nick move a chair to rest in front of the table. After they blocked the door, the four of them took a seat on the floor and sat in silence.


	3. Chapter 3

They took turns watching that night. First, it was Rochelle, she watched for a few hours, staring at the door with a determined look to keep these new men safe. Expecially the youngest one, Ellis. He reminded her of a little brother that needed help being taken care of. The news reporter sighed as she leaned against the door, letting herself notice the snores of Coach, how loud they were, the man was sleeping on his back, so, perhaphs that's why. Nick sleeping in a sitting position, his arms crossed over his torso, it screamed 'Get the hell away from me', she sighed. Rochelle noticed lastly, the mechanic, huddled up in a corner, he was in a fetal position and his face was scrunching up as he muttered the name 'Keith' all over again. _Probably a friend of his. _ she thought to herself, sighing softly. Ellis then jolted from his sleep, panting heavily, eyeing the place quickly, running a hand across his forehead and letting out a loud sigh.

"Ellis, sweetie..." Rochelle said quietly, like she was coaxing a child to come out from hiding or to calm down someone. Ellis glanced up, raising an eyebrow before giving her a goofy smile. The woman couldn't help but laugh a bit and she pat the seat next to her. Obeying, Ellis crawled over and took a seat by the darker woman. "Do you want to tell me a little about yourself?" she asked politely, a smile on her face. Ellis' cheeks flushed slightly at how motherly she looked.

"Well... I was born 'n raised here in Savannah... I worked in an autoshop with a few of my buddies... My ma raised me to be polite 'n all that... 'n I found out yesterday she's been turned into a zombie like everyone else..." he seemed saddened by that, the first time Rochelle heard him seem so... unoptimistic. She would of hugged him if she knew him better. "B-but, what 'bout you, girl?" he perked up, wiping at his nose.

"My life isn't all that important..." she began, but Ellis protested her life was important like everyone else who was surviving this hell. She rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm from Ohio and I was a news reporter... I've had a story to cover down here and well, the infection broke out..." she sighed, then chuckled softly. "The big guy, Coach, he taught at the highschool here. Like you, he was born and raised here too." Ellis listened to her without inturupting at all, a trait his mother always said was the best he could have. After another hour and a half of talking, she was cut off by a big yawn.

"Time to go to sleep, girl." Ellis chuckled, leaning back against the door. "I'll wake up Coach, okay?" he said, moving over to the snoring black man, nudging him lightly. "Psst, Coach, man, wake up... It's time for you to watch..." this earned a groan from him, then his eyes opened, clearing his throat.

"Yeah, yeah..." he rubbed his bald head, stretching and standing up, exercising his knee to ease some of the stiffness from it. He watched as Rochelle went to his spot on the floor in the closet, laying down to get comfortable. Coach then eyed the younger Savannah native and sat down on the table. "So, young'un..." he said, dropping his voice to a whisper. "What brings you here?" he asked. Ellis began to tell him the same thing that he told Rochelle, falling silent again. Coach sighed, patting the young man's shoulder before squeezing it. "Well, you're doing just fine, kid, your mom would be proud."

Ellis practically glowed.

"Thanks, Coach!" he couldn't help but grin. He felt a lot better now that the eldest complimented him. Coach laughed, nodding his head. "So, uh, what 'bout you, man? What's your story?" he stood and went over to the table, hopping up with Coach and staring at him.

"Well, when I was younger, believe it or not, I was a football player." This automatically caught Ellis' attention. "Except, I hurt my knee and now I can't play anymore." Ellis' smile turned to a frown. "Don't worry, young'un, I can still walk just fine and keep myself goin'." Coach assured him and then, continued on with his story. Ellis' attention was on the man for a good three hours or so before he rubbed at his eyes and yawned heavily. Coach frowned and pat the younger man's head. "Hey, go 'n sleep, okay?" Ellis shook his head and frowned at him, crossing his arms and biting his lower lip, trying to make it seem like he wasn't tired. He was excited he was learning more about his new friends.

"No, s'okie, Coach, don't worry. You can go though and I'll wake Nick up." Ellis nodded a few times, adjusting his hat on his head and then hopped off to poke Nick from his sleeping position. "Psst, Nick... Hey, wake up, c'mon... Your turn to watch..." Coach frowned as the conman lazily opened his eyes, running a hand through his hair, trying to neaten it against his head, growling at the knot due to the gel being left in.

"Tch, why are you up, Overalls?" Nick glared, observing Ellis was standing over him, his hand extended, offering to help him up. The older man ignored it and stood up on his own, rubbing at his lower back and popping his neck. He stood by the door, staring out of it with a look of annoyance. The moonlight was showing his features beautifully and Ellis blushed a little bit. After about twenty minutes, Nick sat down on the floor, against the wall again and he fiddled his thumbs. They sat in silence and it was driving Ellis insane.

"So," Ellis started to break the silence between them. "What're you doin' in Savannah, Nick?" he said, kicking his feet lazily back and forth. Nick ignored him. Ellis pretended he didn't hear what he said, so he repeated himself. Nick still ignored him. "Y'know it ain't nice to ignore people, Nick!" he growled softly. Nick just snorted.

"I really don't give a fuck, Overalls, you're a stupid kid who has no business in a grown-up's life." the conman grumbled, leaning back. "So, stop trying to ask me about my life."

Ellis felt hurt. Rochelle and Coach were more then willing to tell him about their lives and what they did before this god awful infection and even though they've known each other for a few hours, Ellis felt like he's known them both for his entire life. He was pretty sure they felt the same way. But Nick was a different story, a tough, rude, cold story. Ellis has never been spoken to in such a way, most people liking whenever he was around, he was very easy to get along with. He knew what he would do now, though, he would keep trying to get closer to Nick. The conman sat, glaring into the darkness, his arms crossed over his chest, taking a deep breath before exhaling slowly. Ellis was getting on his nerves, but he couldn't help but find the kid being cute. For God sakes, he was adorable. Besides, didn't he want to hook up with Ellis the night before for a quick fuck? Green eyes glanced back to stare at the mechanic's, but flinched away when he saw Ellis was staring at him.

"What are you looking at, dammit?" he growled, making Ellis flinch. "It's damn annoying, go to bed."

Ellis shook his head and got down on the floor next to Nick, pouting slightly. "C'mon man, have you ever been married?"

"Yes." came the reply, hoping it would shut the kid up.

"Really?" Ellis beamed. "Who's the lucky gal?"

"My ex-wife." Nick scowled.

"Ex-wife?" Ellis blinked, frowning.

"Yes, we divorced." Nick shrugged. This wasn't working. It was just causing Ellis to think of more conversations.

"What happened?" Ellis asked, full of concern.

"She nagged me too much." Nick shrugged again. "I hate naggers." Ellis was quiet for a few minutes, before speaking again.

"Where are you from?" he grinned.

"New York." Nick reached into his pocket, taking out a carton of cigarettes, pulling one out and reaching in with a lighter, staring to light it.

"Smokin' is bad for ya." Ellis stated. Nick simply raised an eyebrow and shrugged again, leaning back, inhaling on the cigarette, eyes sliding shut as he exhaled the smoke, causing Ellis to cough into his shirt. Nick smirked a little bit.

"What, don't like smoke?" he asked, leaning closer.

"N-no, dammit, it's sick!" he grunted and fanned the smoke away, coughing again in disgust. Nick sighed and rolled his eyes, putting the cigarette butt down and stepping on it before discarding it outside the barred windows of the safe room. "Thank you..." he said quietly, pulling his face out of his blood covered shirt. Apparently, it smelt better then Nick's cigarette. Damn, what a bitch.

So far in the hour that Nick and Ellis spent together, Ellis learned that Nick had once been married, he'd been divorced, he smoked and he was from New York. He was growing tired now, his eyelids drooping as his head nodded off. As much as he forced himself to stay awake, he couldn't fight the spell of sleep. Nick grunted in annoyance when he glanced over to see the young man resting his head against his shoulder. What did he look like to this kid, a pillow? He had the urge to shove him down onto the floor, but ignored it, rolled his eyes again and remained staying awake for the rest of the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Nick found himself nodding off at sun rise, his head leaning against Ellis' as he fell into a deeper sleep. He'd been up most of the night and was well aware of the drool mark on his shoulder from the hick. A green eye opened after he heard a small click, then saw Rochelle putting something small into her pant pocket, smiling happily at him. "Mornin', boys!" she waved, going over to shake Ellis softly. "Sweetie, get up, okay? It's time to go..."

Ellis groaned and his eyes opened, focusing on what was in front of him. Rochelle's face was that thing. He jumped a bit and then stretched out, grinning. "Mmm, howdy, Ro..." he waved and jumped, biting his lower lip at the second body by him. "A-ah, Nick! Hell! S-sorry, man, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you!"

Nick rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it too much, Overalls, you'll just be paying me later. For a new suit." he couldn't help but smile to himself and stand, dusting off the three thousand dollar suit. Rochelle rolled her eyes and shook her head, grabbing a sub-machine gun from off the table, some ammo and a health pack. Ellis grabbed a shotgun, running his finger down the barrel of it, eyes shining.

"Damn, I've... never seen such a gorgeous thing..." he chuckled to himself, licking his lips. Coach walked over, whistling in appreciation, grabbing an assult rifle while Nick took a second pistol, taking out the one he held in his thigh-pouch.

"Let's go then." Nick muttered, opening the safe room door. "Lead the way, Overalls, since you apparently know Savannah so well." he rolled his eyes, shooting at a group of infected, the four of them easily shooting their ways through them, keeping a steady pace as they made their way to the mall. Nick had noticed how skilled Rochelle actually was, though he saw in the hotel room, Coach was doing just fine, he knew how to aim well and Ellis... Ellis was something else. The kid was getting most of his targets with one bullet, sometimes two of them. He reloaded quickly and while he did, he kicked and punched at most of the zombies.

"Nice shooting, Ellis!" he called out, distracting the boy. He shot at an infected person who was going to attack the brunette. Rochelle sighed, shaking her head before stopping when she heard the fimiliar thundering stomps.

"No... Not another one of them..." she prayed, reloading her gun and biting her lower lip, aiming at the narrow opening, finger on the trigger. "Wait up, guys... There's another one of the big guys coming..." she warned them, they all took place behind her, aiming their guns straight ahead. As soon as Ellis shot a test shot, the large infected began to charge at them, roaring loudly, ripping a piece of the concrete off the path and chucking it. The team seperated, but began to fire none the less, swearing as the bullets didn't do much to the Tank. Ellis flinched and kept shooting, the Tank throwing more slabs of concrete at them, charging ahead. Nick rushed down the stairs, dragging Rochelle with him and Coach was guarding their backs, he went back first.

"Fuck, where's Overalls?" Nick asked, his green eyes scanning the entire area. "Shit, ELLIS!" he called out, eyeing him in the distance, backed up into a corner, the Tank cornering him quickly. He felt his heart drop, his eyes wide. Why did he care? The kid was annoying, stupid and a hick. Why didn't he want to see this monster rip the boy to shreads? He almost yelled out the boy's name when the Tank shoved it's massive fist into the mechanic's stomach. Instead, he rushed over towards the two, shooting at the back of the Tank's head repeatedly until the creature fell to the side and Ellis was in a heap on the stone floor, eyes glazed over in pain.

"Young'un!" Coach yelled, he and Rochelle making their way over, standing behind Nick, who scooped the tan man up, his breathing laboured.

"There's the gun store..." Nick muttered, staring at the two of them, heading forward. "We can put him down there and then help him out." Rochelle stared down at him, then the Tank and swore to herself quietly, then nodded, running forward to clear the way of the common infected. Once they were safe inside the room, Rochelle began to tend to the younger male's wounds, trying to get him to drink something. Coach had found a speaker and was talking into it, speaking to the gunshop owner. He groaned and shook his head, strolling over. "Guys, the owner... He said he'd clear the path for us if we get him cola in the store across the way."

"Coach, we can't do that right now... Ellis is hurt..." Rochelle said quietly, supporting the boy with her body, holding him close.

"We need to get through to the mall." Coach argued, sighing roughly. "Dammit, this is just terrible..." he stared at the closed door, clenching his fists together. "Nick, come with me and we'll go and do that so these two can stay in here..." he said lowly, eyeing the conman. Nick stared back and was wiping his hands on his pants.

"You can't be serious, Coach, really." the dark haired man sighed. "Really? Without Rochelle and Ellis? Come on, man..." He laughed softly. Coach just stared back at him, then eyed Rochelle.

"Baby girl, can you protect Ellis 'n be able to drag you both up here? Or come with us and hide him well enough?" Coach asked her, his voice serious. At hearing his name, Ellis let out a low groan noise that started a coughing fit. His insides hurt a lot and he reached to hold onto his chest.

Rochelle stared at the smallest male. "I can protect him and when it's clear, come back here to get us..." she said, lifting Ellis up and moving them to a corner, sitting in front of him, gun cocked. "Just go, you two... We'll be fine here..." With that, Coach and Nick went on the journey to grab the cola.

"Who's going to go in and grab it?" Nick asked, raising an eyebrow. Coach stared at him. "Fine, dammit, you better not let any of these bastards in here though until I find the cola." the conman then broke the door to the store, rushing in and searching around for the six pack glass bottles. He swore at how loud the alarm was and really wanted it to stop, aware at the horde that Coach would be up against wouldn't stop coming until it was turned off. He sighed, picking up the cola, rushing towards the entrance. "Coach, go!" he ordered, rushing past the man, punching different infected people in the face and prying their clawing hands off him. He was desprate to get to the old man who promised to clear a path for them, desprate to get out of this hick town and desprate to make sure Ellis was doing alright. Coach was behind him, shooting along as the younger conman rushed up the steps, headed to the door's slot. "We have the cola, here!" the slot opened and he put the bottles in, then moments later, the large truck that had been there, blocking their way was gone with a loud explosion.

After the two fought off the remaining zombies, they made their way back down into the gunshop, staring ahead at the other two survivors in the corner, Rochelle's face covered in blood as she sat, reloading her gun, a pile of bodies across the floor behind the counter. "Damn, girl." Nick commented, unable to stop himself from grinning. "How's our little warrior doing?" he glanced behind, Ellis' eyes still closed from before and he walked over, helping the girl up, patting her shoulder. He then leaned down to pick up the twenty-three year old, holding him bridal style, staring at his face. He sighed and glanced at the others, heading out towards Liberty Mall, which was in sight.

They rested inside of the safe house for the night and half the day, sure that the evac station would be abandoned. They were inside the mall now, though and that meant they were closer to getting out of Savannah. Rochelle and Coach had watched over Ellis before, now it was Nick's turn, he had the boy craddled in his arms. Ellis hadn't made much noise for the past day and it was beginning to worry him. Not that Nick cared, of course. Ellis was just another person he'd be leaving after they got through this. The conman sighed, taking a bottle of water from his health kit, placing the bottle to the mechanic's chapped lips. He coughed weakly, shaking his head, water dripping down his mouth.


	5. Chapter 5

They rested inside of the safe house for the night and half the day, sure that the evac station would be abandoned. They were inside the mall now, though and that meant they were closer to getting out of Savannah. Rochelle and Coach had watched over Ellis before, now it was Nick's turn, he had the boy craddled in his arms. Ellis hadn't made much noise for the past day and it was beginning to worry him. Not that Nick cared, of course. Ellis was just another person he'd be leaving after they got through this. The conman sighed, taking a bottle of water from his health kit, placing the bottle to the mechanic's chapped lips. He coughed weakly, shaking his head, water dripping down his mouth. Those blue eyes fluttered open and he rested his head on the older man's shoulder, coughing a little more.

"How you doing, Overalls?" he asked lowly, not to alert Rochelle or Coach. No way would he be caught talking to him like he actually cared. Ellis glanced up at him, swallowing dryly before taking the water bottle, drinking from it deeply. He gasped and his head fell back, licking his lips.

"... I feel like my friend Keith..." he said hoarsely. He spoke too loudly, because Rochelle was over in a matter of seconds, like the woman teleported, and was hugging him, asking how he felt and if anything hurt more then it should. Ellis let out a chuckle, biting his lower lip, cheeks tinting a little bit. He sat up, leaning back against Nick, who was leaning on his arms, staring at the brunette in his lap. Ellis groaned, crawling off, trying to stand up, using the wall as support. Nick's eyes were practically glued to Ellis' rear. Coach came, lifted him up and ruffled his head.

"Good thing you're alright, young'un." he smiled and nodded his head. "We were all worried sick, understand, boy?" Ellis nodded and coughed, rubbing at his chest, which was badly bruised.

"Aw, damn, this reminds me of a story where my buddy Keith once had a tree fall on him... I mean, he wanted to cut it down 'cause it was interferin' with his satilite thing... so, he went out with a saw 'n tried to cut it down himself. The poor bastard had the thing fall on him!" he couldn't help but laugh, which was inturupted by a cough.

"Is now the best time, Ellis?" Coach asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay."

From the safe room, the group made their way through the mall, Ellis' face lighting up at each of his favorite stores they passed. "Damn, I wish we had more time to do stuff!" he sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "I'd totally go shopping 'n get us some stuff!" he whined and glanced around, limping up an escalator, getting helped by the only woman of the group. "Hey, this reminds me of when Keith and I came here and we got wasted at the Chillis here 'n like, it was funny 'cause we started makin' out 'n shit, then I think some girl had us sign her baby's head!" he felt proud of that night. Really proud.

"Ellis." Nick snapped.

"Okay."

"Come on, sweetie... Easy, easy..." she said softly, helping him over things and allowing him a shoulder to lean on when he was hurting expecially bad. Ellis sighed, hating to be such a burden to them. Of course, none of them would ever admit (well, maybe Nick) that he was, but he could tell by the way they all moved and lagged behind because of him.

"Rochelle, I got him." Coach said, wrapping an arm around the smaller body, smiling down at her. "Young'un, just shoot, alright?" Ellis nodded and swung his baseball bat at zombies on Coach's side, nailing them each time. They all had to rest for short periods of time, when Ellis was too exhausted to keep going. When they approached the back door of the clothing shop, Coach placed Ellis down and he glance around. "Once we bust those windows, there's gonna be an alarm, I bet." the oldest man sighed a little bit. Ellis frowned and leaned to stretch his legs. He glanced around and swallowed. "Um.. This can be a problem," he stared down at his legs, they seemed to be alright to run. Nick glanced back at him, sighing and backing up to stand with him.

"You ready for this, Overalls? We're going to run like hell." he smirked. "Can you do it or do you want me to carry you?" He sounded so sincere to the young man. Ellis couldn't tell if he was joking or not. He shrugged and swallowed, removing the shotgun from his back, loading it up before crashing himself through the glass, shooting at two infected, rushing towards the esclator. "Ha!" he took to the steps a few at a time, stumbling a little bit on the slick blood. He glanced down, Nick and Rochelle halfway up the stairs and Coach just starting on the first step. Rushing ahead, Ellis was trying to keep himself paced, by breathing in and out, his chest was starting to hurt, but he was almost there, he could see the door where the alarm system was in. Or... he thought he saw it... But then the dull pain in his chest flared up dangerously and he was well aware he was charged into and now was being slammed roughly into the floor.

"Shit!" Rochelle yelled, running over to help him. "Someone turn off the alarm, quick!" she yelled, slamming at the Charger's back with the butt of her gun. It buckled forward, letting go of Ellis and turning to face her, then lowered itself, charging towards her. She jumped out of the way, shooting at it. The Charger eventually fell, it's small arm twitching. Rochelle glanced around when the alarm stopped, aiming at a last minute horde of infected, trying to gun them down. Ellis was breathing heavily, his legs shakily as he stood up, shooting along with Rochelle, soon joined by Coach. They shot and swung at different infected, knocking them down and getting covered in their blood, stalling quite some time. Once they were all gone, Ellis stumbled forward, rubbing at his stomach, coughing and spitting on the ground, dropping to his knees, gasping for air.

"You alright, Ellis?" Coach asked, concern in his voice for the younger Savannah-man. Ellis nodded, holding a hand up, throwing up a small amount of bile.

"Where's Nick?" he managed, coughing again, trying to get that disgusting flavor out of his mouth.

"Last time I checked, he was in the room turning off the alarm..." Coach said lowly, eyeing the area, helping Ellis walk towards the room. "Come on, young'un..." he said lowly, the three of them making it to the room, looking around and not finding the conman anywhere. "Nick!" Coach called. "This ain't funny, boy!" he growled.

Rochelle looked around, sighing a little bit and moving to support Ellis' frame so Coach could move ahead. Ellis moved away from her, sighing roughly. "It's fine, Ro, I can walk just fine... Just can't run yet..." he sighed, lifting his head up and glancing around and heading towards the exit. "Nick?" he called out, hopelessly. His eyes darted around the mall, then he heard a loud sobbing coming from the floor above them. They were terribly depressing, he felt upset just hearing them. Ellis took off in a quick walk towards the upper floors, up the escalator, those sobs turned to growls, then those growls turned into a scream. He flinched when he heard a second scream, a deeper one, the fourth member of their team.


	6. Chapter 6

Ellis rushed up the stairs, his eyes wide at the scene he saw playing in slow motion before him. A silver haired woman with dreadful long black talons and dirty, torn clothing was cleaving violently at the conman's body, blood staining the Witch's body and her hair as she continuously assulted Nick. The mechanic's eyes filled with tears, the adrenaline pumping through his body was enough to numb the pain from the previous experiences and charge against the Witch, his muscular frame knocking down her thin, fragile one and landing ontop of her, straddling her elbows to try and keep her from slicing him open. He eyes were blank as he aimmed the shotgun to the Witch's head, her sobs louder then before, the sound of the shotgun firing between her eyes echoed and there was a splatter of blood on the tile floor. Rochelle had rushed to Nick, stitching up his wounds as fast as she could, swearing as she did it, focusing on the man's body. As far as she knew, the Witch didn't hit anything vital, but the first thing to do was close his torso wounds up and stop the bleeding.

Rochelle took the gauze from the medkit and began to wrap Nick up, staring down at him with a worried look. She couldn't speak, she could only look at the bloodied mess. She then began to wonder why Nick had gone ahead and left the little family they made. Of course, he hated them, that could only explain it. He used them to get out of the hotel and to the mall so he could leave. But, the evac station wasn't running anymore, so, he couldn't exactly get out. Maybe he wanted to clear the path for them before hand so they wouldn't get hurt. Rochelle looked up at Ellis, a lump forming in her throat as she saw the gentle, sweet boy she met two days ago violently smashing at the dead Witch's body, angry tears pouring out of his eyes. He was covered in blood mixed with dirt and sweat and she realized how much older he looked like that.

Coach came up from behind and lifted up Nick's body, checking for a pulse, taking a deep breath. He stared at her, nodded his head before going towards Ellis, standing besides him and staring down silently. The mechanic heard the man coming and he slowly ceased his beating, his body trembling violently. Rochelle had come behind him, hugging onto the taller frame from behind, placing gentle, motherly kisses on the back of his head. Wordlessly, Ellis stood up, Rochelle supporting him as the four of them limped towards the safe room.

Inside, they did the usual blocking of the door, then found themselves sitting in a circle with the conman in the middle, his eyes closed and his breathing shallow. Coach had been praying for the black haired man to get well and that he thanked the Lord they have all survived so far. He also blessed Ellis and Rochelle, saying they were the best people he's ever met. How Rochelle was beautiful and kind to them all and how she was a wonderful woman, how her smile always made them smile and how her words of advice always got them through their tough times. Then he spoke about Ellis. How Ellis was an angel sent from heaven to guide them with how optimistic the boy is, how his presence could lighten up an entire room. How he was loveable, determined and a loyal friend to have.

Rochelle was in tears at how much she really meant to the older man, she whispered words of thanks into her hands, bowing her head deeply, the salty lines pouring from her eyes. She then began to explain how these men were the closet people she's ever had to a family, how Coach was always so protective of her, how he would take a bullet for her, Nick was rude, yes, but he was a brave, strong man. Of course, Ellis was the most sweetest, caring man she's ever met. He was a great listener and would give advice or try to help whoever had problems. Ellis was just so amazed he had meant anything at all to these people, his blue eyes were fogged with the tears, he began to spew out his emotions.

How he had never really opened himself up to anyone except for Keith, Dave and his mother, how he's always been scared to be alone and he always tries to be the best he could be for everyone. How he tries to be kind and get along with people. How he tries to listen and though he has problems of his own, how he ignores himself and tries to take care of others first. He told them how much he loved them, though he hardly knew them. He told them they were a family and nothing could tear them apart, not even this. He reached out to grab onto Nick's hand, squeezing it and then the other two followed suit, they all held hands. It was silent for a long time, the only thing audible was Nick's soft breathing, which seemed less laboured. They were all glad for that, they were glad the thirty-five year old would live to see another day, they were glad their family was still together.

Soon, Rochelle and Coach were asleep against each other, Rochelle's hand on Ellis' foot to assure him that she was there and Coach's foot against his back. Coach was quieter tonight, Ellis was thankful for it. He really hated noise when he slept, but he would get attatched to it. He would live with it and he wouldn't complain. Ellis was awake, his hand holding onto Nick's and he stood watch. He stared down at Nick's head in his lap and couldn't help but smile. The youngest male leaned down, slowly and placed his dry lips to the soft skin of Nick's forehead, lingering for a moment. He tasted salty, he was sure they all did, they've been sweating in the hot sun for hours and they haven't had a chance to shower.

Ellis felt disgusting, he wanted desprately to clean his body. He had a hard day at the shop and was still covered in spots of oil and sweat from the day of hard work. He was sure everybody felt that way, he was sure everybody wanted to get away from this town and just go to a safe place, not having to worry about these infected sons of bitches. Ellis wanted to cry, he wanted to cry because he almost lost this man, who's head was in his lap, the man who he had grown fond of, his stomach churned each time he saw infected beings attack him, he remembered when he felt a small amount of jealousy when they spoke about Nick's ex-wife. He had no idea the reason, he would look into that another time, but now, he enjoyed the silence and the closeness he and Nick shared. He and everybody shared at the moment.

Ellis began to think to himself, his eyes sliding shut as he kissed Nick's forehead gently again, his breath breezing over his face. His hands that were resting on Nick's shoulders slowly came up, cupping the man's stubble covered cheeks. The mechanic's eyes were still shut as his lips ghosted over the conman's face, until he was leaning over him, his lips inches apart from Nick's, his eyes fluttering open half way and he kissed him. The Savannah-born man's eyes slid shut again, his mouth slowly moving on Nick's, he swallowed before pulling up, his face a light shade of red. He lifted Nick's head up gently and laid down next to him, slipping his arm under his head, pulling the older man into a hug, their bodies facing each other. Ellis' breathing was getting deeper as he was drifting into a deep sleep, his head bobbing a little bit, forehead against Nick's as he finally fell asleep.

Glassy sea green eyes fluttered open and a soft moan escapes the injured man's lips. He's thirsty, but can deal with it. His eyes focus on where he is and why it's darker. He lifted his head up weakly, staring at the boy's face. He smiled warmly, a smile only his ex-wife had seen when they were what he thought was in love. Before they were married, when they first met. He was alive probably because of the young man and he had grown attatched to his stupid stories about his idiot friend, Keith. He was glad that Ellis was with him, hell, he was glad Coach and Rochelle was with him too. In the warmth of Ellis' arms, Nick shifted a little bit, his hand slowly rising to pet the side of Ellis' face. The mechanic's skin was smooth and Nick liked that. The man had a love for smooth things on his body, usually his fingers. Nick could hear his savior's breathing hitch slightly and then the young man twitched. The conman couldn't help but chuckle, shaking his head with amusement as he leaned closer, staring at the hick's closed eyes. Nick placed a gentle kiss on those cracked lips and he held Ellis' face in place, his thumb rubbing up and down on his cheek.

Nick was surprised to see that Ellis' eyes had opened and were staring back at him. He took a moment to observe the color of Ellis' eyes. They were a deep blue and the color was just marvelous. He could of almost gotten lost in them if it hadn't been for Ellis' whisper.

"Nick."

"Don't talk, Ellis."

"Okay."

_This has to be my favorite chapter. I swear to God. Thank you SO much, Corky! You helped me a bunch and this chapter shows it, yes? *grin* It'll be happier, I just know it! There will be some lovely moments with our two boys soon too! Uwa, I had issues writing this, it was depressing and all and I was sad. Lol. Oh well, please review? c:_


	7. Chapter 7

Ellis had fallen back alseep, his hand in Nick's and his head against the older man's shoulder. There was another small click, but neither of them rose from their content state. Rochelle sighed and got some water, drinking a few sips before going over and shaking Nick lightly. He stood up, staring at her with a confused look, then was helped to sit up.

"Drink this." she said quietly, handing the bottle to Nick. He drank as he was told and smiled at the woman. This smile wasn't as warm as the one he had given Ellis before, but it was friendlier. Rochelle bit the inside of her cheek, but began to change the conman's bandages. Nick hissed, his body tensing up, his torso was caked with dry blood and it stung whenever she moved the guaze. He swore a few times at her, which awoken Ellis, his blue eyes fluttering open and staring ahead at the scene in front of him. He sighed, groaning as he sat up. Ellis popped his neck and his knuckles, crawled over to Nick and sat by him, taking both of the older man's hand's in his own.

"Hey, Nick, c'mon, man..." he grinned. Nick stopped his swearing, he was staring at the young man, how come he had that optimistic personality back? After what just happened, how he saw Nick almost die in front of him. Ellis was just someone he couldn't read. He liked that though. "Hey, Ro, I got him from here, dont' worry."

Rochelle frowned, staring at the brunette, then shook her head, finishing what she started. "He's all your's, sweetie." she backed away, watching the two of them before going back over to Coach in the other room. Nick then realized, Ellis was straddling his lap, his hands wandering over with different sheets of guaze, securing it firmly. Once he was done, Ellis stood up, examining the older man, then moved off, moving away to stare at the bloody white jacket and the torn, ruined blue shirt. Thinking there's no way he would put either on the conman until they were clean, Ellis removed his Bullshifters t-shirt that wasn't as messy or torn. Nick's eyes were automatically glued to the muscular build of the mechanic, licking his lips absentmindedly.

He walked over to him, the overalls he wore hugging his hips just perfectly, Nick had noticed. He moved next to him, shoving the conman into his shirt, snickering a little bit. "There we are!" he smiled at him and pat his head lightly. "You look better already!" except, that was a lie. Nick's face had splatters of his own blood, along with zombie's blood and he had small traces of Boomer bile left in his hair. Ellis reached into his first aid kit, pulling out the water bottle he had saved for them, leaving over and slowly dabbing Nick's cheeks, jaw and forehead with a wet guaze, cleaning him up.

"Hey, man... Did I ever tell you about that one time, my buddy Keith tried to make himself go to space, 'cause well... He heard the Midnight Rider's were playin' that night 'n so, he built this huge ass catapult 'n shit and he tried launchin' himself up that high! Of course, it was a shittily built one, so... He kinda was thrown threw a house 'n he broke like.. his arms 'n legs 'n his-"

"Ellis." Nick warned.

"Okay."

They all rested in the safe room for the rest of the day and night before agreeing with each other that both Ellis and Nick were feeling alright. Coach lead, followed by Nick, not close behind was Ellis, then, guarding from behind, Rochelle. They split up to go into the two bathrooms, seeing if anything was of use. Surprisingly, Rochelle found a pipebomb, which was snapped securely to her belt. They headed out again, stopping quickly when Ellis gasped, stopping in the middle of the walkway to stare out at something. Coach frowned and then caught what the smaller boy was staring at, his mouth falling open too. The sign they looked at was a giant one hanging from the ceiling of what looked like a racecar driver. Above, by his head, it read 'Get Your Picture Taken With Jimmy Gibbs' Stockcar'.

"We are damn lucky," Coach said "Jimmy Gibbs Jr. thank you so much."

"Who?" Rochelle asked, raising an eyebrow. Ellis turned to stare at her, his eyebrows raised very high.

"Girl, Jimmy Gibbs! He's a legend down here! Damn, he's like... freakin'... awesome... Hell, man... If I ever met him, I would so... Aww, man..." Ellis' face flushed a dark shade of red.

"Does somebody has a crush on this asshole?" Nick spoke up, shaking his head. "You really need to find better people to idolize." he limped along, heading towards an elevator. "So, do we have any plans?" Ellis ignored the previous comment, stepping in with the group.

"Well, actually, yeah, I do have a plan." he grinned. "Y'all, I knew Jimmy was comin' to this Mall 'n I was originally going to come 'n get my picture with the guy 'n his car..." he began to go off topic, Rochelle caught him. "Well, anyway! Since his car is here, then we can fuel it up 'n drive it outta here to New Orleans!"

Everyone was silent. They all stared at him.

"You're joking, right?" Nick grumbled.

"Ellis, sweetie..." Rochelle sighed. "There's probably no gas here..."

"Young'un, that is the craziest idea I've ever heard." Coach said. "So, when we get off this elevator, let's look for gas?" Ellis nodded, that summed up his idea.

"Yeah, pretty much." he said lowly, averting his eyes.

"Well, I pray to God that there are cans out here." At that, Ellis perked up and licked his lips.

"Only one thing, I'm driving, sport." Nick smirked.

"Awww, hell no, Nick! It was my idea, so I'm driving!" Ellis argued, crossing his arms. Rochelle shook her head and muttered something. It sounded like 'men'.

The group darted out, glancing around the entire three stories of Liberty Mall. So far, nobody could see anything gas-related. Ellis was beginning to worry he lead his friends into a death trap, they couldn't die now, not after all they've been through. Nick point to a small room that said 'storage' on it and rushed over to it, opening it and smirking like he's won a jackpot. "Hey, Overalls, you actually were right!" he ran in, grabbing two cans of gas. Rochelle followed suit, shaking her head with a smile. Coach grabbed two cans, jogging out at a steady pace. Ellis stared at two, a small smile on his face as he grabbed them, following the rest. He could hardly believe it, he was going to be driving Jimmy Gibbs' car out of here. His idol ever since he was eight, the man he wanted to grow up to be like, he was going to drive his car.

"Y'all, we're gonna make it!" he laughed loudly. There was a crash and they stopped for a moment, glancing behind them at the huge amount of infected charging at them. It has been unusually quiet here for a while, they were all trying to get in. Rochelle swore, grabbing her pipebomb, throwing it off the edge, attempting to distract the zombies. Only about twenty-five rushes over to the bomb before it exploded, taking them with it.

"Chuck the tanks over the railing by the car!" Ellis yelled, throwing off his gas tanks, each of them landing next to the stockcar. Nick grunted, smacking a zombie in the head with it and then did the same. Coach had already made his way down the second flight, working his way to the bottom floor when a Spitter spat her acid in the way. Coach bounced back, standing on the stairs, he dropped the tanks in the goo and swore, back tracking up the many stairs. The gas tank exploded in the goo, causing the Spitter to die. He climbed over the side of the staircase, dropping and then he rushed over to Jimmy's car. He stumbled a little bit, his knee acting up. He swore under his breath, limping over to the car, leaning against it. This was the worst possible time this could be happening.

Rochelle had been behind Coach, shooting and guarding his back. She was suddenly pounced from behind, the feeling of claws tearing into her skin was like nothing she'd ever felt before. Coach yelled out a battle cry, then smashed the Hunter off of the woman. The Hunter quickly leapt across the hood of the car, then at Coach, but fell, dead before it got to him. Ellis stood there, shotgun in his hands, breathing hard.

"Nobody... touches... Jimmy Gibbs Jrs' car..." he panted, licking his lips. Nick stood behind the kid, his eyes wide. Damn, he looked hot like that. Wait, what? No way did he just say Ellis was hot. He was an annoying brat who always talked and never shut up. But... why did he kiss him the other night? Because he was gracious? No, that couldn't be it. Nick ran up, gassing up the car with his two tanks, filling them up.

"Shit, we need two more cans or so..." the conman snapped, glaring daggers at Coach like it was his problem they were stuck. Coach glared back and stood, flexing his knee. He eyed the fire that was blazing brightly in front of the staircase.

"I'll go..." Ellis said, his jaw tight and his fists clenched at his sides. "Y'all stay here 'n I'll be back as quick as I can, okay?" he gave them a huge smile. Nick stared at him and glanced back at Coach. He should be going, he made the mistake of exploding the gas cans! The green eyed man watched as Ellis loaded in the gas into the car. He noticed how the boy bit his lower lip, muttering things like 'This is a dream come true' and 'Holy shit, I'm finally doing this!', he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Ellis..." Rochelle said quietly, glancing away and holding a hand out. "Come on, sweetie, you don't have to do it, we'll all go!" she argued. The brunette just grinned and shook his head.

"Nope, I'm the fastest out of all of us, so I think I should go." he stretched. "Besides, I feel good about this..." he nodded. "All of you sit in the car 'n wait for me, okay?" They were very hesitant of this, but the mechanic had presuaded them to get in the car. He had told them that it's been his dream and if he couldn't do it alone, it would be crushed. The twenty-three year old dashed towards the staircase, he pulled himself up with strong upper arm strength and soon disappeared from the other's view.

Nick couldn't help but feel jittery. He was tapping his finger on the dashboard, glancing around for any kind of trace Ellis wouldn't be hurt or dead right now. Any sort of sign that Ellis dropped a gas can down, his hat, a weapon, anything! Rochelle placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it slightly.

"It'll be alright, Ellis is a tough kid..." she whispered, trying to hide the fear in her voice. Coach placed a large hand on her shoulder and squeezed softly.

"Baby girl, it'll be alright." He said to her, then glanced at Nick. "You've seen what that kid can do." It was odd, Coach usually talked to Nick as he was an asshole. Well, he was, but, this was different. He was oddly trying to calm him down too. Nick rested his head back against the head rest, glancing at the empty driver seat next to him. He wanted to see Ellis' smiling face, he wanted to be able to feel him like they did in the safe room, he wanted to hear another Keith story, knowing he'd regret that one. He shut his eyes, trying to imagine the man's voice. How his southern accent was so stupid yet sweet, how his manners drove him insane, he wanted to punch him at how polite he was. Nick was confused, why did he let Ellis go alone? Why was he still in the car waiting for him when he could be out there, helping? What if Ellis had gotten attacked by a Hunter or a Smoker? What if he was dead by now? His heartbeat quickened and he shifted nervously in seat, thinking of the worse case senerios.

Ellis had made his way back to the room, panting softly. It was true, he felt better, but running up flights of stairs without a break was pretty exahausting. He had been standing in front of the storage room, leaning over slightly.

"Well, Jimmy... Here goes nothin'!" he said, running in and collecting two more cans. The brunette was heading towards the staircase when he felt a slick, wet rope around him. Except, it wasn't a rope, it was a tongue. He gasped, but the tongue had dragged him off the edge of the walkway he was standing on, strangling him slowly. Chucking the gas cans, he desprately tried to pull the tongue from his throat, managing to give himself a little space. He eyed a Smoker, swallowing the best he could, face flushing a little bit from lack of oxygen. Was he going to die here, hanging from three floors up? Would he be dropped in front of the car so Nick, Rochelle and Coach could see? That thought scared the living shit out of him. He felt as if he was going to pass out from the lack of air. He couldn't even see the conman's face again, or the girl who's been amazing to him, or the man who was a fellow Gibbs fan. He had kissed Nick, he had shown the older man how he was feeling towards him. He wondered now, if Nick felt the same way towards him or if he was even more revolting to look at. Nick had kissed him though, he told him to be quiet, he allowed him to sleep on his arm. He stared back towards the staircase, his vision getting darker gradually, he took a gulp of air, filling as much of his lungs as he could. Before Ellis blacked out, there was a man pulling him to safety and he could breath again.


	8. Chapter 8

_One thing to say about this before: It was a mistake that I put it up and so I rewrote it. *nod* So, I apologize! Um, enjoy this one, I guess? XD _

When he came to, the mechanic groaned deeply, rolling onto his side and coughing violently. He felt dizzy and uncoordinated and the last thing he could remember was being pulled into a strong man's arms. Nick's? Coach's? No, he was thinner then Coach and not as muscular as Nick.

"You're awake, finally?" came a soft voice from the other side of him. "You had me worried, boy." Ellis blinked a few times before sitting up, his eyes widening.

"Holy shit..." he whispered, his throat getting dry as his face flushed. In front of him was a blond haired, blue eyed man. This man was wearing a racing suit, this was the man he idolized. This was Jimmy Gibbs Jr. "M-Mr. Gibbs, I.. I.. thank you so much for savin' my life!" he stuttered, shaking with excitement. "I-I.. d-don't know what to say, sir..." Ellis couldn't take his eyes off him, Jimmy laughed.

"Don't worry about it, kid, I'm just grateful to see another survivor here." he sat down and offered Ellis a piece of candy. The boy took it, placing it in his mouth and chewing slowly, listening to the driver. The candy was a mixture of peanut butter and chocolate along with a cookie center, Ellis didn't even like Twix, but he ate it for the fact he was hungry and Jimmy Gibbs gave it to him. "You got a name?"

"Ellis." he answered, glancing around. Inside, the boxes were in front of the storage room door, there was a few shelves filled with things, mainly boxes, and there were posters on the wall. There was enough room that the two of them could sit comfortably. "My name is Ellis."

"Well, Ellis, it's a pleasure to meet you." Jimmy smiled warmly, patting the boy on the shoulder. Ellis almost squeaked with happiness. "So, now, did you come here with anyone else or are you here alone?"

"Well, sir..." he took a moment to calm down. "I came here with three other people, Rochelle, Coach 'n Nick," he explained. "We were gonna fuel up your car 'n then drive to New Orleans." he paused for a few seconds, noticing how Jimmy was watching him with an amused expression. "We, uh, lost two gas tanks accidentally 'cause of one of them Spitters, so... I told 'em I'd run up to get two more and then, I had 'em and that Smoker came 'n was chokin' me!" he finished his story, waiting for Jimmy to say anything.

"Well, that was a very smart thing to do... You knew cars at malls are empty, so you had the idea to fill it up with gas?" Jimmy repeated. The stock car driver was very amused at this. "Do you know where these friends of yours are, son?" he stood up, running a hand through his hair. "Because I saw you dangling there and no gas cans in your arms, so I'm assuming you dropped them?" Ellis nodded slowly and stood up, staring up at him.

"Can we go out 'n look for 'em, sir? I... um... mean... i-if you'd s-sign somethin' for me first... I-if you want!" he added the last part quickly, then removed his hat and held it out to him. Jimmy took it, staring at it, then he removed a sharpie from his racing suit pocket and signed the back of it. He give it back to Ellis and the boy read it.

_To a strong person and a devoted fan. -Jimmy Gibbs Jr._

He almost wanted to start crying there. He didn't though, instead he placed his hat on his head, face blaring red. "I-I never.. ever.. ever though I'd be.. y'know.. in the same room with ya 'n gettin' your signature 'n all..." he said in a low voice. Jimmy walked up to him and patted his head.

"Alright, boy." Jimmy said, moving some of the obsticales out of the way, Ellis trotting up and aiding him. He was feeling a huge amount of excitement, this was almost like being on Jimmy's manticence crew. Except... this wasn't working on a car and there were zombies everywhere and well, he and Jimmy Gibbs were gonna kick some ass!

"Mr. Gibbs... You... haven't well, been bitten, have you?" Ellis asked. "Because, well... um... I really don't wanna have to kill you, y'know?" Jimmy just laughed softly, then shook his head, going over to the back of the room before coming back to Ellis. The brunette grinned and adjusted his hat on his head, glancing over to the side, seeing the driver hold out a bat to him. Ellis took it, moving it around in his hands before knocking it on the ground.

"Whoa, yeah... This'll do just fine..." he smirked, kicking open the door, knocking back an infected before slamming the poor man in the face with the bat. "All you sons of bitches, Ellis is back!" Jimmy grinned at the young man's enthusiasm, swinging his machete, jogging to catch up with him.

"You're doing pretty well, kid!" Jimmy yelled over the moans and groans of the horde coming towards them. This horde eventually got larger and seperated the two of them, Ellis backed into a corner as he swung violently at them, decapitating a few heads while he was at the way, Jimmy was busy swing at the different infected that had started to attack him. The blond man had stumbled back and dropped his weapon, then he decided to punch. In the middle of his attack, an infected had bit through his glove. Ellis could of sworn he heard Jimmy scream, but wasn't too sure about it.

"Mr. Gibbs?" he called out once the infected around him were all down. "Are you okay?" he ran over, coughing a little bit and beat off a few more of them before seeing Jimmy against a wall, holding onto his gloved hand. Jimmy hissed a little bit and stood up, wiping off his hand on the back of his suit.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Ellis." he said, shaking his head, blond hair falling into his face. "Let's just keep looking for your friends, alright?" Jimmy jogged behind of Ellis, trying to ignore the searing pain in his hand. He wouldn't turn into one of these monsters, he knew he wouldn't. He had too many fans and he had his family. His wife, his son and daughter... Jimmy shook his head again, then stared ahead at the boy in front of him. He reminded him so much of his boy, Ellis was polite, honest and strong.

Jimmy stopped after a few moments of jogging behind Ellis, leaning over, his hands on his knees. "Kid, wait a sec," he groaned, legs shaking a little bit. The mechanic stopped, looking over his shoulder at the driver, his eyes widening as he rushed over.

"Mr. Gibbs! Hell, man, are you alright?" he asked, worry coating his voice. Jimmy was breathing roughly, the more he thought about being turned into one of these things, he became more stressed about it. Jimmy held a hand up and shook his head, he reaches to take off the glove, reaching to take off a gold ring.

"K-kid, here..." he was turning very pale. Ellis frowned, holding out his hand. "O-once you get outta here, I want you to see if you can take that to my wife in California..." Jimmy grunted, the brunette was supporting him up. "I am so glad she wasn't here for this Hell..."

"W-what're you talkin' about, man, c'mon, we're gonna make it..." he said, moving down the flight of stairs slowly.

"Put me down, kid." Jimmy ordered. Ellis stared.

"N-no way! Look, t-there's your car! Right there!" he pointed out, swallowing nervously. Jimmy shoved away from him, sitting down on a stair, covering his face. He was sweating and he was getting dizzier with each passing moment. The headache he had was getting worse and the burning in his hand was becoming unbareable. Jimmy leaned over, vomiting on the floor in front of him. Ellis flinched and backed away from him, shaking his head. "No, no, no, come on, Jimmy!" he said, pulling the man to his feet, watching as he stumbled dangerously. He was starting to go down the second flight of stairs, eyeing the bottom floor, which was were he would be able to drive the man's car out of here. Jimmy stopped, shoving Ellis down the last few flights of stairs.

Ellis stood there, staring up at his hero, swallowing heavily. He shakily lifted up a hand, saluting the man, Jimmy staring down at him with a warm smile, saluting him back before falling to his knees, a loud scream escaping him. The mechanic fought the urge to run up to him as he saw his idol slowly rise to his feet, staring at him like he was a piece of food. The infected Jimmy Gibbs rushed down the stairs at the brunette, pouncing him and slamming him down hard against the ground. Ellis winced and grabbed at Jimmy's wrists, trying to keep him away from his body as the blond man snarled and snapped at him.

His grip was faltering, his hands trembling as he saw his hero, on top of him, trying to kill him. Tears were streaming out of his eyes. He clenched them shut and was almost positive Jimmy had gotten free when he felt no more attacking infected on him. He opened an eye, staring up at the infected man, motionless. Behind him, the conman, the coach and the news reporter stood. Ellis was relieved that he wasn't going to die, but at the same time, he was feeling very upset. He was pulled up by Coach, his back being pat lightly by Nick and Rochelle hugged the younger boy tightly. Ellis returned the hug, staring down at his idol. He had blood pouring out of his back from where one of the other three survivors had rammed a crobar into his weakened body.

"Come on, sweetie..." Rochelle said softly, taking his hand and leading him towards the car. Coach sighed, shaking his head, following close behind and Nick tsked and went to catch up. Rochelle had opened the driver side door for Ellis, crawling into the back. Coach was back next to her and Nick moved to sit in the passenger seat again.

"If you ever do that again, young'un," Coach mutteed. "I'm going to teach you a personal lesson. But first, get us outta here like you said you would." he smiled at the brunette in the front seat. Ellis looked back at the man, nodding his head. He glanced down at the keys in the ignition, shifting a little bit in the seat, his hand began to shake as he moved it from the wheel to turn the key. The car roared to life and they were off, crashing through the large glass windows, running over countless zombies.


	9. Chapter 9

Ellis didn't let any of the other survivors behind the wheel of this car. He had become very attached to it during the few hours he'd been driving around in it. Unfortunately to the mechanic, his eyes widened at the long highway filled with cars. They were parked, some were crashed, some were turned over in their side. He slammed on the breaks and swore loudly, jolting the three of them.

"Aw, shit, man!" he yelled, slamming on the wheel, glaring ahead. Nick rubbed at his face for a few moments before groaning in disgust at the brunette.

"What the hell did you do now, Overalls?" he groaned, shaking himself awake. Rochelle had her hand to her chest, her eyes a little bit wider and Coach was muttering things in disagreement just like Ellis was. "Dammit to Hell!" he yelled and opened the door, shaking his head.

"Sorry guys..." he said lowly and looked at the road, kicking a rock.

"Sweetie, don't apologize, you got us out of the mall!" Rochelle smiled at him. Ellis felt his cheeks flush a dark shade of red and he shifted a little bit.

"Uh.. thank ya, kindly," he nodded to her and puffed up his chest and began to lead them through the highway.

"Whoa, man! Whispering Oaks!" Coach laughed, clapping his gloved hands. "I used to go here all the time when I was younger!" Ellis perked up and grinned at Coach.

"Aw, hell yeah, man! So did I!" he laughed and bounced a little bit, his hands around a new weapon, an axe, his shot gun secured on his back. "I love all the rides here!" Nick stared at him and shook his head. He watched as the two of them conversed about their favorite rides and foods here.

"Great, just gre-" he was cut off by the sound of a loud whirling sound. He turned, seeing a helicopter flying by them, his mouth hanging open a little bit. "Shit! We need to get their attention!" he yelled, running ahead of the three of them. He stopped, panting and leaning over after running across half of the park. "Well fuck." he grumbled, glancing behind himself as he watched Ellis following along. He pushed himself up and made his way over back to the redneck.

"Overalls," he breathed, staring into the shorter man's eyes. He was talking lowly. "How are you feeling?" He didn't want to take any chances if Ellis had been bitten by that damn Jimmy Gibbs.

"Nick, I feel okay!" Ellis said, grinning all the while. "Really, you don't have to worry about it..." he said quietly, itching his nose. Nick just shook his head and eyed him up and down. "You ain't feeling sick or anything?"

"Nope." Ellis stared for a moment, then frowned. "You think I got bit? Believe me, man, I didn't." he decided he would ignore Nick for the longest he could, so he walked ahead of the other man. This didn't last long, Ellis began pointing to a few different rides and booths whenever he got distracted. He was glancing around the park, memories from when he was younger came flooding back. It's been a while since he's been out to Whispering Oaks, but the last time was with Keith when he was seventeen. Keith had been twenty-one at the time and they had a fantastic time.

_"Hey, El! C'mon!" Keith said, grabbing Ellis' hand and running towards the Shooting Gallery game, standing behind the shorter teenager, steadying him. They had got a score of 1120 because of their teamwork. Ellis laughed and took Keith's hand, running over to the cotton candy stand, getting some for both of them. The rusty haired man paid, of course, since it was good manners. The brunette had pouted for about twenty minutes because he had plenty of money, but he wasn't allowed to pay. They went on the merry-go-round, they played the strength games, they ate more food. The pair tried going to Kiddieland, seeing if they could sneak on the rides. _

In the safe room, Nick groaned at the light hues of pink and purple and the hearts everywhere. The Tunnel of Love, fantastic. He sat down, legs crossed and he whistled over to Ellis, trying to make him come over to him. Ellis obeyed and sat down next to Nick on the floor in the corner of the room. Nick offered the boy some of his water, watching as he downed almost half of it. He felt bad for a moment, he never stopped to ask Ellis if he was thirsty or not.

"Ellis," he said in a low voice. "I want to talk to you about the other night," how to say this without it being awkward. "It... well... It's just between you and me, alright?" Ellis just stared at him with a look of confusion sweeping over his face, but he said nothing.

"Why would I tell anyone 'bout that?" Ellis mumbled, giving the water back to Nick. Did the man not think he would keep a secret? He had kept plenty of secrets he's kept for years! He sighed roughly and shook his head, taking a few deep breaths before relaxing. "Go over there by Coach 'n Ro 'n sleep." Nick twitched a little bit. "I'm goin' to watch the place first." he added. Nick shook his head in annoyance and walked over to Rochelle and Coach, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets. He told them how Ellis was doing fine and he was just a little annoyed since he missed his car. In a few hours, the fimiliar sound of Coach's snores filled the room. Nick had moved back over to where Ellis was.

"Hey, how you doing?" the conman asked, his voice low. Ellis felt himself shiver at how Nick was speaking to him. It was just so calm and collected. Ellis shrugged and shifted to rest his head on the box he had been leaning against. The mechanic noticed Nick's suit had been cleaned off of most of the blood and guts during their little experience in the river after the motel shortcut.

"I'm okay." he muttered and shifted again. "What 'bout you, Nick?"

"Just fine, Overalls." he sighed, staring up into Ellis' blue eyes. "Listen, I'm sorry, okay?" Ellis raised an eyebrow and blinked twice. "I know you won't open your big mouth to Rochelle and Coach about what happened." Ellis stared at Nick, sighed and sat up straight.

"Um, thanks... I guess?" the southern boy smiled softly, the pink lighting showing his face. He leaned closer, pecking Nick's cheek gently. The conman snorted and leaned back against the wall, staring ahead. He began to think about what he would do after this would be finished, but was disrupted by Ellis laying his head down on his chest.

Ellis muttered something into his chest.

"What?" Nick raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing." he snuggled up to the conman. Nick grunted and placed a quick peck to his forehead. Ellis felt his face flush. Nick was expecting a story from him, or any type of conversation. He stared up at the ceiling, waiting. Nothing came though, Ellis had fallen asleep, his breathing slow and steady.

_"Keith! Let's go on the Screamin' Oak, okay?" Ellis had been excited to go on his favorite ride. He had rushed with Keith onto the roller coaster, waited in line and got to be in the front seat. They laughed and 'wooed' on the ride, enjoying the wind in their faces and when the coaster dropped, how it felt. They got off, only to get on again, for about five more times. _

The Screaming Oak was where they stood now. Rochelle glanced at the metal gate that blocked them and shook her head. Coach was preparing his knees for this run. "Alright, once this gate opens, run as fast as you can." Nick ordered, smashing the button. Once the gate opened, the group ran like hell. Ellis was in the lead, the boy was moving quickly. Rochelle was behind him, shooting at his sides and in front for the zombies he failed to cut up with his axe. Nick was behind Rochelle, guarding her back and Coach was protecting Nick's, jogging behind and keeping the group of zombies down. Once they ran the tracks, Ellis ran into the control room and slammed the ride off, silencing the previously blaring alrms. He rushed out to help the others fend off the infected, then continued their jog to the safe room. It was at the end of the exit ramp and the infected kept coming. They fought their way through, getting scratches and bruises, but they made it into the room, closing the door and leaning against it.

Lucky for them, there were two first aid kids in the room, Rochelle strapped one onto her back and then chucked Ellis the other one. He caught it and wiped at his face, stretching. "Well, dammit. I'm ready to face about anything!" he laughed. "Oh, man, did I ever tell you when Keith and I came here and we tried to go to Kiddieland to get on the rides there? Well, we got on that little kiddie-merry-go-round thing and shit man, Keith got stuck 'n I couldn't stop laughin'!" he finished the story, uninterupted with a laugh. Rochelle just smiled as she began to wrap up some wounds on Coach that he recieved on the way in. Nick sighed, shaking his head with amusement, watching Ellis as he animatedly moved his arms around.

Coach watched first that night, watching over the other three as they slept soundly. Rochelle watched second, then Nick, then Ellis was last. The brunette had stood in front of the door, laughing and shooting infected that tried to claw their way inside. He was surprised he hadn't woken any of them up By the time they were ready to leave, they had to shove the door open due to the amount of the bodies in front of it. Rochelle just giggled at how excitable the younger man was.

They approached the large yellow boxes leading up towards the roof and Nick headed towards the roof first, defending himself from the infected that charged at him. Coach came up next and joined the conman, laughing as he killed them with Nick. Rochelle came up next, bending down to help Ellis up, frowning a little bit when he pushed her hand away and got up on his own.

"Don't need help, Ro." Ellis protested.

"You are such a stubborn boy, Ellis." she chuckled and ruffled the top of his head. Ellis just grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up. He then began to dash across the rooftops, staring down one he got to the other end, frowning. That same feeling he had felt when they were still in the burning hotel, on the ledge was happening again. Fucking vertigo.

"Come on, Overalls..." he called out, holding his arms out. "You can do this." he grinned. Ellis moved to the edge of the roof, staring down at the conman, biting his lower lip, he hopped down, landing on his feet. Nick was applauding him, chuckling slightly. "Great jump, Ayehlus, real great jump." Oh the sarcasm that coated that bastard's voice. Ellis laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Alright guys, we have to press the button over there to open the gates, so, it'll most likely attract a horde, so, get ready to kick some ass!" Nick yelled to them, slamming the button. Coach reloaded his gun, getting himself ready. Rochelle had put Ellis into a corner, standing in front of him. Nobody noticed the tan boy frown once Rochelle had told him to stay put. He felt even more like a burden since he couldn't run as quick as normal and that he held them back.

He felt like a _child_.

Was that all they saw him for? It hurt him, but he ignored it. He stared ahead, killing the infected until the metal gate opened. Once that happened, they all took off down the path of the carnival, stopping when they heard the ground rumbling.

"This can't be happening now..." the oldest man said lowly, shaking his head. "Please, God, do not let this be happening now..." but his prayer did nothing from the huge infected that charged at them. Rochelle began to shoot her machine gun, backing up as fast as she could. Ellis and Coach had been blasting away with their shotguns and Nick was chucking the molotov he had found a while back. Great, now a flaming giant was after them, throwing whatever it could at them. The four of them dodged chairs and benches and trees, running around the narrow path.

Coach grabbed Ellis by the back of his shirt and yanked him towards the opposite end as the Tank threw a dumpster at them, it blocking the path. The younger man took his shotgun off his back and reloaded it, shooting at the Tank as quick as he could. He could hear Coach praying to himself and he decided that would be a good idea. When Coach said 'Amen' he said after him, flashing the other man a smile. "Yo, Coach! We can do this, man!" Ellis yelled, diving for cover, watching Coach go the other way. The Tank was going after Coach and was going to corner him. The Tank was raising it's flaming fist to smash the ex-football player into the cement. The brunette's eyes widened and he ran towards the bald man, a low growl forming in his throat, his gun was useless without bullet, so he threw it to the side, reaching to grab his axe. He let out a battle cry and swung.


	10. Chapter 10

At the noise, the Tank hesitated before turning around to stare at the weapon coming straight towards it's face. It instinctively threw it's hand toward the brunette, letting out a roar as the blade of the axe cut through it's palm and stuck deep into it's lower arm, blood gushing out of it. Ellis' eyes widened, that's not what he wanted to do, but it got the thing away from Coach. He started to run backwards, glancing around for anything he could use as a weapon. Nothing was in sight and the Tank was gaining on him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Coach reload the shotgun he had as quickly as possible. The mechanic wished his wasn't out of bullets, then maybe, just maybe the Tank would be dead by now. He turned around and dashed ahead, hitting himself against a wooden wall. Fuck.

_Shit... I can't die, I gotta make it out for Coach! He needs me... Rochelle needs me... Nick needs me! Hell, Keith and Dave need me! _

Ellis' mind was rushing as the pink creature approached him and right at it was going to strike and the brunette clenched his eyes shut, the Tank had fallen. Coach couldn't have gotten so fast all the sudden, the man was big and he wasn't in the best of shape. He opened his eyes, blinking a few times and stared up at the man clad in white. His cheeks flushed a light shade of pink and he took the extended hand. Nick pulled him up to his feet and he pushed Ellis against the wall, staring into his eyes with cool green ones.

"If you ever do that again, I'll bury you, Overalls." he growled. Ellis shuddered a little bit and pecked the corner of Nick's mouth before movinging away, nodding his head quickly. Nick stared at him and was at his side when the boy stumbled a little bit. Did he hurt his leg or something? It would be a problem since they could practically see the saferoom from here. The conman scooped up the mechanic, staring across the way until Rochelle came. She was supporting the larger man, it was quite comical.

"I'm so glad you're alright, young'un!" Coach shouted, waving his arm at the pair. Ellis grinned and began to laugh, flailing his arms.

"YeeeeeEEAAAHHH!" he cheered. "Alright, Coach! That's how it's done right!" he was chuckling to himself by the time the two of them caught up and Nick carried him to the safe room. Once they were in with the other door barricaded, Nick placed Ellis down on the table so he could check his leg. Nick had told Ellis to remove his overalls and his boots, so the younger complied, not complaining on getting comfortable. The conman's hands moved gently down his calf, earning a loud hiss from the younger boy when his fingers touched a spot by his ankle that had some fresh blood streaming out of a gash.

"Ow!" Ellis yelped, trying to tug his leg away from him, whimpering softly. Nick sighed, reaching for the first aid kit Ellis had let him borrow, taking out a needle and thread. "O-oh no, Nick, no, no, man... c-c'mon..." his voice was wavering. That was one of the few things Ellis hated. The first was seeing his friends and loved ones injured, the second was spiders and the third was needles. Well, mind you, there were a bunch of littler things he hated, but those weren't as important.

"What the hell's wrong with you, Ellis? It's just a needle..." Nick muttered, threading it as he kept his firm grip on Ellis' leg. The poor boy's leg was twitching and trying to get away from the silver doom. "Just close your eyes!" he snapped, starting to do his needlework. The mechanic was whimpering loudly, his fists tight and clawing that the top of the table. After he was finished, he stood up, wiped his hands on his pant legs and stared at Ellis.

"Done." Nick said with a smirk, licking his lips. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" he raised an eyebrow and pat Ellis on the head. The mechanic whined a little bit and pulled his leg up, staring at it with a pout.

"Yer an asshole... but... thank you kindly..." he said quietly, reaching to pull on his pants, but Nick grabbed his wrist and took out some guaze and began to wrap it around the stitches. He closed the kit after he finished and stared at the wall behind the man.

"The Midnight Riders? Are they good?" Nick examined the posters of the four men.

"Aw, hell, Nick! They're awesome!" Ellis laughed, hopping down from the table, getting used to walking around with the stitches. "Like, this one time... When me 'n Keith went to a concert... Keith thought it would be funny to take off his shirt and the poor bastard got his entire chest burnt! That's how awesome the shows are!" Nick just rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, fixing it the best he could.

"We could have the lights warn the helicopter." Rochelle smiled, nodding her head slowly. "It'll be perfect and then we can get out of this terrible place. But first, boys, let's rest!"

All of them agreed with her.

"Every ladies crazy when her daddy's not around~!" Ellis sang into the microphone, moving his arms as if he was playing the coolest guitar solo ever. "Gotta reach for the top, stay on the mountain!" Coach had sung a few lines with the younger fan and they highfived each other.

"Damn, Ellis, you can sing!" Coach complimented, laughing. Ellis grinned at him and shifted back, glancing around, he was ready to hit the button for the concert to begin. The helicopter would pick them up soon. He waited until he could hear Rochelle yell 'now' and he hit the button, watching as the lights started up. Those were the same lights that had burnt his eyebrows off in 2007, well, not these ones, but for the final. The infected began to pile into the stadium, the four of them stood back to back, shooting and swinging violently at them. A large pile of bodies were surrounding them.

"Gonna drink, dance, pary all night... She's gonna drink, dance, party all niiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!" Ellis sang along with the words as he shot some more of the infected. One had clawed past him and got him across the cheek. Disposing of it, Ellis quickly wiped at the blood coming out of the scratch. A small scratch (that was actually fairly deep) wouldn't stop him from enjoying this concert. With nobody but him and the other three here. Hell, the stupid zombies already had killed his mother, they've killed his idol and they killed his favorite band now. There was now a new surge of anger and strength the brunette had no idea he had. He moved from the group, grabbing a red guitar and began to beat the infected over the head, singing louder as One Bad Man came on. More of them kept piling in and after about five minutes of continuous swinging, his arms began to get tired.

The finale lights have shot off and exploded, temporarily blinding them. Ellis' eyes widened and he could of sworn, his eyebrows burnt off again. It was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Over the music and the explosions, the whirling of the helicopter came in, louder and louder. The group of them began to rush towards the bleachers. Ellis began to skip steps, Rochelle running through them. Nick was doing the same thing the mechanic was, except not as dangerously and Coach had to take them one at a time. Just as he was about to leave the last two steps, the brunette had stumbled and fallen forward onto the steel bleachers. Ellis had fallen unconcious, slumped over the bench.

"Shit! Guys!" Nick yelled, rushing over to help the boy up, frowning when he saw he was out cold and that he had to hold the mechanic. He decided taking the bleachers one at a time would be the safest way to go. He elbowed at a few infected, getting slowed down slightly. He shoved Ellis into the helicopter before jumping in himself and slamming the door shut, falling back against the floor, breathing hard. He glanced over to Ellis, a slight smile on his face. It disappeared when he saw that the mechanic wasn't moving. Rochelle had crawled over and began to wrap up the poor boy's head.

As night was falling, the brunette still hadn't awoken. Coach fell asleep and Rochelle had Ellis' head in her lap, stroking his face gently. She was dozing in and out of sleep. Nick though, was staring at them all darkly from a corner, his eyes flashing to look at Ellis every few minutes. He'd been doing that for the past three hours. Rochelle had finally fallen asleep and Nick decided he would take the smaller boy off her hands. He moved him carefully, making sure that she wouldn't wake ip and he went back to his corner, craddling Ellis in his arms. The brunette groaned weakly, one of his eyes fluttering open half way.

"N-Nick?" he asked, staring up at the older man. Nick stared down at the tan man, smiled at him and pet his face softly.

"Hey, sport..." the conman replied. "You thirsty?" he reached over to pull out a bottle of water that the helicopter pilot had given them. Ellis nodded his head weakly, opening his mouth and licking his lips. Nick took the water bottle, placing it to the mechanic's lips and poured the warm water into his mouth. Once he finished, Ellis pulled himself up, using Nick's shoulders and he rested his throbbing head on the man's chest. Nick sighed, leaning back and stretching himself out, pulling the sweet boy closer to him, his arms wrapped loosely around his body.

"U-um..." he said quietly, fiddling around with the bottom of Nick's jacket. The conman raised an eyebrow.

"Wha-" he was cut off by the brunette gently kissing him, his face flushing a dark shade of red.

"T-thank you so much, Nick." Ellis whispered. Nick nodded and kissed his forhead. They were in the dark, together, warm and safe. The mechanic enjoyed himself as Nick's calloused hand gently rubbed against his hip and stomach, making him twitch and giggle, when Nick's lips placed soft kisses against his face and his hand and fingers. The mixture of the plesant feelings along with feeling tired, sore and hungry, Ellis had nodded off.

"Overalls?" Nick asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Ellis groaned and pushed at him with his fingers. "Mmmn... I love you." Nick tensed up a little bit, staring down at the mechanic. He relaxed and stared outside the window before mouthing

Love you too, Ellis.

This confused the conman so very much.

_End~_

_Well, well, well... *pouts and twiddles fingers innocently* That was my fic! 3 I am going to thank the amazing Corky who gave me hints and tips throughout the entire thing with reviews and PMs! *giggle* Thank you all for those nice reviews and for reading it~! Now, excuse me as I go play L4D2 and kill Witches in Hard Rain~! *skips off merrily*_


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